


A Matter of Supervising Officers (and their hearts)

by megiax



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternative Universe - Academy, F/M, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, Where Was Clint Barton During Captain America 2?, bit of an AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-11 13:05:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5627641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megiax/pseuds/megiax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College: The Final Frontier. </p><p>Well, not exactly the final frontier but standing outside the main building of the 'college' with all her belongings stuffed into a suitcase, a large gym bag and her messenger, Darcy felt it was very frontier-like. </p><p>(Or the SHIELD Academy AU that gives a sort of explanation of where Clint was during the fall of SHIELD because this diverges canon so much.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

College: The Final Frontier.

Well, not exactly the _final_ frontier but standing outside the main building of the 'college' with all her belongings stuffed into a suitcase, a large gym bag and her messenger, Darcy felt it very frontier-like.

"Are you lost, miss?" A concerned voice asked from behind her. She turned and found a fairly familiar face looking at her, though she couldn't place where she knew him from.

"I'm looking for my building" She glanced around at the many entrances to the main building, and the buildings behind that, all without signs or names stamped across them. "They're not exactly labeled."

"Well, maybe I can help you out" He smiled and held his hand out for the welcome package she was holding. She handed it to him, and he glanced over it with a smile. "Ahh, you're in the Carter building, it's this way. I'll show you."

"Thanks" she smiled gratefully and followed the man, who offered to take one of her bags for her. Darcy politely declined the offer.

"I'm Agent Coulson, there's a young woman people have taken to calling my protégée is in the same building as you, Miss Lewis, I'll introduce you."

"Thank you, Agent Coulson" she smiled gratefully again, and realised that this was Fury's right hand man. The one who'd taken a pretty bad hit in New York, and was off all active duty for the foreseeable future. Darcy knew it had something to do with Loki, so she guessed they had a common enemy. She also realized that this was the guy who'd shipped them off to Tromsø. He couldn't have picked somewhere remote, away from Loki, and _warm?_

"So you transferred from Communications? I didn't realise people moved _into_ Operations from anywhere else. People tend to drop out rather than in" he chuckled and held open a door for her.

"Well, I was coerced by Jane - I mean Dr Foster" She explained and her grin broadened at the sight of the elevator. At least she didn't have to drag her bags up the stairs. "I'd been working with her; analysing data for her. Her research was done and she was coming back. We had some bumps along the way and she said I had the makings of a field agent...So did Thor, so I transferred."

"Well, Jane is a smart woman, I'm sure she's right. And the God of Thunder himself? Wow, I'll be sure to keep my eye on you" The elevator opened to a corridor with five doors. He motioned towards one at the end, "This is yours, I think. Yes, room twelve." He nodded.

A tall brunette came out of the room next to Darcy's, dressed in tac gear and a grim look on her face.

"AC!" She smiled when she saw him. "Please can you talk to May about my training schedule? I'm fairly sure even Widow didn't have this much!"

"Skye, Agent Romanoff was trained in the Red Room" he glanced at her, disapproving of her complaints. "I'm sure we could book you a plane to Russia, if you'd prefer?"

"No, no, that's alright AC" she hurried to say, and started walking towards the elevator. "I'm Skye, by the way! I'll see you later, new neighbor!" She called to Darcy, who smiled and waved.

"I'm Darcy!"

"Well, Miss Lewis, I'll let you get settled in. That was Skye, the woman I told you about. She's a handful, but between May and I we manage to control her" he chuckled, something that Darcy was sure was a rare occurrence with this man. "I do believe you have a few days before your training starts, but you'll have to report to me tomorrow to get your SO."

"Sure thing, Agent Coulson" she nodded and opened the door with the keycard she'd been given, "You don't have any idea who my SO is, do you?"

"Sorry, no. I haven't had a chance to look at any of your files yet" he smiled and held open her door while she put her bags down, "We'll both find out tomorrow, I'll see you then."

He nodded and left. As soon as the door was closed, Darcy sighed and flopped down onto the bed. She'd just been showed to her room by one of SHIELD's top agents, and would be starting life at The Academy in a few days. She had the weekend, at least, to settle in and hopefully meet some people.

She was grateful that Jane had convinced her to transfer to Operations from Communications, even if it did mean leaving the few friends she'd made behind. She was only with Jane in the first place because no one from Science and Technology would work with her on her project in New Mexico, because the entire science community had written her off as a looney. Someone from Communications who could analyse Jane's data was the next best thing, ergo, Darcy got stuck in the desert. Then, Thor fell into their lives and Jane had disobeyed her direct orders to let Barton's team take care of it and did her own thing. She'd put both herself and Darcy, in danger, for a guy. Director Fury wasn't impressed, but he'd let them both off with a warning due to the fact that they didn't 'cock it up as much as they could have done'. Thor asked why someone training to be a field agent was inputting data for a scientist, and was shocked to discover that she was actually in Communications.

So, three days and a call to some higher-ups later, Darcy was enrolled in the Academy of Operations. (Even if she didn't start until almost a year and a half later because Jane still had to finish in New Mexico and then New York happened and she was forced to freeze her ass off in Tromsø, which proved rather fruitful for research, if not Darcy's sanity.)

Yay for her!

* * *

Luckily for Darcy, Agent Coulson's office was easy enough to find.

"Into the big white block, into the elevator, top floor, there you go" were Skye's instructions. Darcy had no trouble finding 'the big white block'. It was where Coulson had found her the day before, the main building in The Academy of Operations, and from the outside, it really did just look like a wide, fifteen storey white slab. Inside was much of the same. The wholly white and chrome interior made Darcy feel like she was in a very sterile, futuristic hospital of sorts.

The elevator took her to the highest floor, and opened onto a large, white (she'd be shocked to see anything darker than ivory) room. She'd expected a corridor, but a quick glance around at the extensive size of the room, and the glass windows that go all the way around three of the four walls told her that the entirety of the top floor was Coulson's office.

He sat behind a glass desk which had nothing but a small stack of yellow papers, three black pens and a silver paperweight the shape of an arrow head.

"Ahh, Miss Lewis" he stood from his desk, where he'd been tapping out something on his phone, and walked around the front to shake her hand, "please, take a seat."

Darcy shook his hand and sat down in one of the white leather chairs in front of his desk. She expected Coulson to sit back behind it, but he simply leant against the desk and held a brown folder that had been under the yellow papers.

"Here's your schedule" he handed her a piece of A4 paper, smirking as her eyes bulged at the amount of areas highlighted red, blue and yellow, "as you're now training to be a field agent, well, obviously you're going to have more of a physical timetable."

"Almost half of my time is in the gym!" She exclaimed, raising her eyebrows at Agent Coulson who chuckled and pointed to the colour code at the top. She balked at the amount of time taken up by things like strategy, firearms and well...exercise. She was incredibly grateful for the plain, white boxes that indicated that she would actually have time to eat, shower and sleep at some point between everything.

"Okay, so a little over half my time is spread between the gym, the shooting range and the training rooms...And I realize now that it's only, like, quarter of my time for each. Okay, sorry, I'm not overreacting anymore." She read her schedule more thoroughly now, noting when she had what and where she should go for them.

"You'll report to Agent Barton for firearms, but Agent Romanoff has requested that she oversee your fitness regime. They couldn't agree on who would take hand to hand combat, so you'll have the two of them for that, although with their current status in the media, it's possible that both of them won't always be present. As it stands, both agents are your SOs."

"What?!"

"Sorry, Miss Lewis, was I not clear? Agent Barton will train you in firearms and most likely his medieval, archaic weapon-"

"No, no" Darcy cut him off, smiling apologetically, "I understand, but, why would The Black Widow request me? And why was I assigned Hawkeye in the first place? Don't they both have, you know, Avenging to do?"

"Agent Romanoff's motives may well never be understood, however you could ask her yourself. And as for being assigned to Agent Barton, well, he too requested you, he simply got to Agent Hill before Agent Romanoff could" Coulson handed her the folder then, and she flipped it open. The first page was an account of what happened in New Mexico, written by Clint Barton himself. "It appears you made quite an impression."

"Wow" she said, more to herself than Coulson, as she read over Clint's words. They really did paint her in an awesome light. She noticed that he did leave something out, like how they actually first met, but she wasn't about to drop him or herself in it to Coulson.

"That file contains your Induction papers. There's nothing to fill in, it's just a brief history of S.H.I.E.L.D, the Academy and some other stuff you'll have to read. If you have any questions before your first session on Monday, I'm sure Skye would help you out, if not, you knew where my office is."

"Thank you, Agent Coulson" she nodded and stood, taking his words as a dismissal.

As the elevator doors were about to close and take her down, she heard Coulson say:

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Lewis."


	2. Chapter 2

Her mattress springs groaned with the sudden dump of weight as her body flopped down. She debated on which phone to ring to actually get an answer; Erik's, Jane's or Thor's. Jane was likely up to her eyeballs in science, and even though Darcy had changed her ring tone to a very loud, very obnoxious shrill, she would either hit it with a hammer to silence it or ignore it completely. On the other hand, she didn't even know if Thor was on the planet, never mind in the midst of a battle or if he'd crushed his phone again, like the last six. Erik was likely to be pantless somewhere, scribbling on a board like he had been since he'd come back from being Loki's pet. He hadn't been one hundred percent sane before Director Fury swept him away to parts unknown, and coming back after the battle of New York had left him with even less of the sanity he had. 

She decided on Thor, in the end.

"Lady Darcy! I am pleased to hear from you. I trust that you are settled?" Thor boomed down the phone, making Darcy swell with happiness at hearing his voice. He still didn't quite grasp that you didn't have to shout down the phone for the other person to hear you. Bless. 

"Hey, Thor. Yeah, I've settled in, I think. Well, my room's comfortable and I think I could have found a friend in the girl next door, and Agent Coulson seemed nice enough" she said and started re-reading over her timetable with a grimace. She really wasn't looking forward to all the physical, but what did expect, becoming a field agent? 

"You met the Son of Coul? Excellent! I will make sure to visit soon, and I will pry Jane away from her machines long enough for her to come, too! The Lady Natasha tells me that she'll be assisting you in training, yes?" 

"Yeah, um, she asked for me, apparently" she mumbled, when a thought struck her, "Thor, you didn't have anything to do with Agent Romanoff requesting me, did you?"

"Fear not, shield sister, Lady Natasha wished to guide you without any pressure from me." 

"Oh, okay, what about Clint?"

"I was not aware that the Hawk would also be guiding you! You have two mighty warriors to help you, my friend, you are very lucky." Darcy sighed, of course Thor would see having the best Agents to ever Agent as her mentors as a good thing. "You sound tired, I will leave you to rest, and promise to get Jane to call you tomorrow. She's passed out at her desk at the moment, I do not wish to wake her" Thor sounded wistful, and Darcy imagined him starting at Jane lovingly with the dopey smile her wore whenever he looked at her. It was the sort of look that gave Darcy toothache it was so sweet.

"Yeah, goodbye, Thor." 

"Goodbye, Darcy." 

The call cut off with a small click and Darcy dropped her phone onto the bed beside her head. She was yet to unpack properly; after Coulson had left her yesterday she'd dropped to sleep, still in her clothes. The morning brought harsh sunlight in through her window, and she'd only dug out her wash bag, make up and some clean clothes before getting a shower to prepare to face Coulson. 

Now, she was at a loss. There was still a few hours until lunch would be served in the canteen, which she would have to use because she hadn't bought any food to stock her share of the kitchen yet. There was a communal kitchen in every residential building because the Academy recognized that, especially in Operations, schedules could be very hectic and people wouldn't always be able to make the assigned meal times. 

She probably should have unpacked; hung her clothes in the wardrobe, filled the drawers, put her shoes on the rack near the door and put up her photo's. Instead of doing anything productive, she knocked on Skye's door. 

Skye answered holding a bowl of instant noodles, fork half way to her mouth and wearing yoga pants and baggy t-shirt. 

"Oh thank God it's you!" Skye grabbed Darcy's hand and dragged her into the room, looking into the hallway before closing the door. 

Darcy's eyes bugged at the sight on Skye's bed. There were three piles of junk food; chocolate bars on one, cakes, donuts and pastries on another. The last pile was three pizza boxes, bags of fries and other takeout boxes. At the foot of Skye's bed was a mini fridge, door open to show it full of sodas and alcohol. 

"A corner store threw up in your room" Darcy deadpanned and looked at Skye curiously.

"May and Ward are driving me crazy with this healthy eating thing, I haven't had junk food in months! I've got some friends coming over. We're having one hell of a cheat day!" Skye smiled and finished off her noodles, dropping the pot and plastic fork into the bin. "You're welcome to join us, there's no way that the three of us can finish all of that; the other two aren't actually restricted in their diets. I know it's only ten am but you don't have plans today, do you? We'd normally do this at night but, those two science freaks have some experiment going on tonight and will have to leave to go back to S and T before eight." 

"I'd love to, thanks" Darcy smiled and sat on a bean bag next to the bed. "It'd be nice to meet some new people before Monday." 

"Oh, you're going to love Fitz and Simmons!" Skye opened a can of soda from the fridge and passed it to Darcy before opening her own. "You were with Dr Foster when Thor hit, weren't you?" 

Darcy nodded as Skye's smile grew. 

"Yeah, those two are going to love you! Be prepared for an endless amount of questions" Skye laughed and peeked through the spy hole in her door. There had been no knock, so Darcy guessed she was on the lookout for Agent May (the legendary Agent May) and whoever this Ward person was. She'd met a Grant Ward once, but he was a dick.

"They're not, like, Thor fanatics, are they?" Darcy asked a little awkwardly. There had been more than a few Agents who'd harassed Darcy for a meeting with Thor, and one or two who'd stolen her phone to get his number. 

"Oh no" Skye laughed, "I mean, don't get me wrong, Jemma has a thing for his arms, but they'll be asking you space related stuff. They may not be astrophysicists, but they admire Foster's work. They wanted the job you got with her, but they had to choose something actually related to their field. So yeah, prepare for the Spanish Inquisition." 

When they arrived, Darcy didn't have the heart to tell them that she knew squat about space, so promised to set them up a meeting with Jane so they could all have a nerdgasm together. With that out of the way, Darcy let herself enjoy the day. They watched Disney movies, because apparently anything else they like had Jemma and Leo ("Call me Fitz please, it sounds strange when people call me Leo") complaining about the inaccurate science.

"So, Darcy" Fitz said as Skye changed the disk from Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin. "Who's your SO?"

"Agent Barton" Darcy said, and at their gasp of either horror or excitement (she wasn't sure which), she added "and Agent Romanoff."

"No. Freaking. Way." A cupcake fell out of Skye's mouth. "How did you land that? Those two, they're legendary. I've heard rumors that they have Thanksgiving at Fury's house with Coulson and Hill."

"They, um, asked for me" Darcy was suddenly very nervous for some reason. It wasn't like it was anything to be embarrassed about, but it just seemed like she was bragging. 

"The entire Academy was shocked when Skye got May as her SO-" Fitz said, nudging Skye with his elbow. 

"-But when people find out about this, I think they may faint!" Jemma finished, which was unnerving to say the least. It was like they shared a brain. 

"It's not that big of a deal" Darcy shrugged. 

"Darcy, the Cavalry beats me up on a daily basis to train me, and I'm considered royalty for that. Trust me when I say that you having Hawkeye and Black Widow doing the same to you, is one hell of a big deal" Skye said, looking at Darcy with awe. 

They day passed quickly, and soon Fitz and Simmons ("What the hell, if he's doing the last name thing, I might as well") left. Darcy hung out with Skye for a little, before going back to her own room.

She spent the rest of the night unpacking, and finally fell into bed around one am. Thankfully, Monday's meant that she didn't have to be in the range until ten. (Clint Barton, you are godsend!) If her alarm woke her up on time, she'd be able to shower in the morning and still have gotten at least eight hours of sleep. 

Well, if she could actually go to sleep and didn't spend the night tossing and turning she would have done. Learning that the world's best spies asked to train you did not do wonders for your ability to sleep. 

She finally got to sleep, remembering her and Clint's first meeting, and not the one he'd put in his report.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up last week but I have internet issues, so it's here now and the next chapter should be up in a couple of days!

_**Puente Antiguo** _

_**New Mexico** _

_**2011** _

God, science sucked. All week Darcy had either been typing in numbers that didn't make a whole lot of sense to her, or fetching coffee. When she'd been told that Dr Foster was asking for an assistant, and that if she took it, it would help her graduate with a higher score. She expected this, but she'd also expected more. People had told her that Foster was a nut job, that she'd lost it chasing wormholes with Dr Selvig. Darcy had been looking forward to meeting a strange, wacky woman who talked gibberish.

Jane was nothing like that. She was a little aloof, yes, but Darcy hadn't met a scientist who wasn't. Jane was fairly normal, and it turned out that people only called her crazy because she was a woman in a man's field, doing what no man had. Jane's work was incredible, even if Darcy couldn't understand it all.

She'd been able to convince Jane and Erik that the worm holes ("Einstein-Rosen Bridges!") would still be there after they'd showered and slept. Having a night off from babysitting smart people was a relief. A relief she found in the local (and only) bar.

It was exactly the sort Darcy had expected; dim lights, well-worn wood, an old juke box and good tequila. It was slowly deteriorating in the way that comes with age and use, not disrespect for the building or the business. Darcy figured that for the people of the small town, it was a little like a second home.

A heavy body sat himself next to her at the bar, ordered a beer and did his best to look broody.

"Long way from home, Agent" Darcy said under her breath and sipped at her own beer. It was nearing warm and no way as satisfying as tequila, but she'd promised herself years ago that she'd never start a night on shots again.

"Do I know you?" He narrowed his eyes at her with his question, trying to place her with no luck.

"Name's Darcy, and no, we've never met" she said narrowed her own at him because yes, she definitely recognized him. It was very possible that she'd seen him in the halls at the academy, but he didn't look like anyone that Communications would churn out. He wasn't lanky and awkward like an analyst, he was built; lean and muscular and strong. She knew a specialist when she saw one.

"You're with S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"When I graduate the damn academy I am" she grumbled and took another drink, because she hated her time at the academy. It sucked more than science did.

"How did you know I'm an agent?" God, this guy was full of questions tonight. And don't think that Darcy didn't notice that he never told her his name. She did. She just knew that with S.

H.I.E.L.D some things were better not knowing. If this guy thought that his name was one of those things, she'd leave him be. Darcy shrugged. She wasn't sure how she can know these things, she just knows that she does. There were currently three Agents in the bar, not including herself. Maybe the minimal field training that she gets through Communications was paying off.

"I just knew."

He regarded her closely before figuring that it was just one of those things and shrugging her off, turning back to his drink.

"You're with Foster and Selvig?" He asked after a few moments of Darcy debating whether to prod this guy's mind more, or go change the song on the jukebox. He made up her mind for him.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He shrugged and looked into his bottle, as if it had everything he was looking for in life. Who knows, if his destiny was to see a brown liquid that resembled drain water, maybe it did.

"My team were told that they were in the area with a junior agent. Foster's lab is a safe house, of sorts, in case anything goes wrong. And we had to know about you for extraction purposes. If we need to leave in a hurry, you're coming with us" he explained, which only piqued Darcy's curiosity.

"I take it that whatever you're doing in New Mexico can't be shared with a junior agent?"

"'Fraid not, kid. That's classified" he winked and downed his beer and ordered another.

"If you won't tell me, I'll wait until I become a super analyst and read the reports myself" she joked and threw caution to wind, ordering four tequila shots.

"You're going to be an analyst?" Darcy shrugged and downed her first shot. It burned down her throat but was worth it, cheap tequila always was.

"What else is there to be fresh out of Communications?"

"Communications? You're Foster's assistant and you're not in Science and Technology?" Agent Guy (as she'd taken to calling him) looked utterly confused.

"No one in Science and Technology wanted the gig, so I was the next best thing. It's not so bad. I don't understand half the stuff that Jane and Erik rant about, but if I keep this up for a few months, I can graduate with a high score and I can basically chose where I want to be stationed afterwards."

"Huh" was all he said. A shot glass was slid in front of him and he raised an eyebrow at Darcy. She shrugged and downed her second one, Agent Guy not far behind her.

If she woke the next morning on the roof with Agent Guy hanging upside down from the sign above Jane's lab, well, they'd never tell anyone.

And if the next day when Jane hit a drunk guy with the van, Darcy tased him and Agent Guy (who finally introduced himself as Agent Barton) pretended to have never met her, well that was fine with her. People would only get the wrong idea, anyway.

 

* * *

_**SHIELD Academy of Operations** _

_**Present Day** _

"Imagine my surprise when the junior agent from the bar, who should have graduated from Communications over a year ago, appears on the list of people needing an SO!" Clint said as she walked into the, thankfully empty, shooting range. He was watching her with mild amusement as he polished an arrow head.

"Imagine _my_ surprise when I find out that an Agent I met in a bar, who wouldn't tell me his name, passed out above my boss's lab, and then stole my iPod two days later, requested that he be my SO" Darcy shot back as she stopped in front of him. He looked like he wanted to laugh, but Darcy held a finger up to silence him. "Not only that, but his scary red head bestie as well!"

That he did laugh at, and despite trying her hardest to keep a straight face, she joined in.

"How've you been, Darce?" He asked when they calmed down.

"Freezing my ass off in Norway, you?"

"Fighting aliens and jumping off buildings in New York" he shrugged, as if to say 'the usual'.

"I'll take a Chitauri invasion over feeding Jane ice cream in subzero temperatures because she saw Thor on TV any day."

"To be honest, I think I would too" Clint laughed.

"Seriously though, why did you do this? Why did both of you do this?" She fixed him with a pointed glare in hopes of seeming intimidating, "you should be out saving the world, Hawkeye, not teaching me how to hold a gun without shooting myself."

"Believe it or not, spending every day with Tony Stark isn't fun. I needed an excuse to not live in the tower, and remember what being Hawkeye meant before the Avengers, and before the press tours and the interviews and the autographs" he shrugged again. "I called Coulson up, I needed a mission, something. He said that I'd have to talk to Hill, because he was at the Academy now, off active duty and no longer a handler. It sounded perfect."

"And Natasha?"

"Same reasons as me, I think, but also to lay low. A lot of people know our faces now, for someone like Natasha who's used to blending, it's a little off putting. She needs time away from it all" he explained as he turned and picked up a handgun. Darcy gulped at the sight of it. Her taser was the most dangerous thing she'd ever held.

"I'm going to die by the time I graduate. It's official" she grumbled and made no move to take the gun from him. "I can see it now, I'm going to shoot myself, or die from exhaustion because I just know that her idea of going to the gym is not the same as mine."

"Darce, how long have you know me?" He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. The gun was still in his hand, making Darcy a little nervous but she figured that if anyone, he knew how to have the safety on. But then again, with their history she wouldn't put it past him to accidentally shoot her.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that I know you" she started, smirking, "I mean, we got trashed together on cheap tequila, and then spent a few days with a man who fell out of the sky...Oh, yeah, then there was the whole giant metal monster with a flamethrower for a face, and then, what happened when Sif was spearing it? Oh yeah. You shot me!"

"I grazed you!" He defended.

"Dude, the arrow made a hole in my arm!"

"Well, you shouldn't have been running towards the big scary transformer! That's why we had Asgardians!"

"Baker ran away! I couldn't just leave him!" She pouted. They'd had this argument many, many times during the final months they spent in New Mexico. Director Fury thought it best for Barton's team to stay on site until Jane's work was over. They'd become friends, sort of, but then Clint and Erik were wanted somewhere else, so Darcy was stuck flinging paperclips and spit balls at the agents who'd stayed.

"How is the mongrel?"

"They wouldn't let me bring him, so Jane's looking after him in London."

"You trust Jane to be able to take care of another living thing? She let a potted cactus die! _A cactus_!"

"She's got an intern from some British university, can't remember his name."

"Did SHIELD clear him?"

"No, Jane just let a random student have access to her life's work, and possibly the key to the rainbow road" she rolled her eyes. Again. God, she needed to stop doing that.

"Hey, stop with the snark or I'll tell Tasha that she doesn't have to ease you into long distance running, and she can start with a marathon around the grounds."

"Oh God, please don't call her Tasha in front of me, it makes her sound normal" Darcy laughed, "nothing about any of you is normal anymore!"

"I'm normal!"

"Dude, no" she patted his arm affectionately and rolled her shoulders, mentally readying herself for what she was about to say.

"So, I guess it's about time I learn to shoot, huh?"

"Don't worry, Darce, you're leaning from the best" he winked and shoved the gun into her chest. Asshole.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very happy with this part, at all, but aside from rewriting it completely and fudging up what I've already done for the next three parts there's not much else I can do to it

She spent two hours with Clint in the range, trying not to shoot herself or anyone else who was unlucky enough to walk through at the same time she was there. When they finally broke for lunch, Clint proclaiming that he would drop dead if he didn't get pizza and coffee that second, she tried not to think about how hands on his teaching methods were. Because she might have enjoyed having his arms wrapped around her to show her the proper way to hold a gun, a little too much. She thought she got over that crush after he left New Mexico with Erik. Apparently not.

The canteen was much like the one she remembered from High School; round metal tables with round metal stools attached to the floor, long rows of serving counters, (self-serving, thank god), and awful plastic trays to carry your food on. She hadn't expected this from SHIELD, but then she remembered who she was talking about and realised that it made sense. At least the food wasn't cold and rubbery.

"So, how was your first session with Barton?" She'd sat with Skye, and until now she'd been able to avoid the subject of her legendary SOs.

"I didn't maim anyone, so it's a win in my book" Darcy smiled at the other girl who was aggressively eating a burger, trying to avoid being caught by May eating something other than chicken and rice.

"Well it's already going better than my first day then" Skye laughed and shoved a handful of fries into her mouth, "I kicked Ward in the balls so hard he had an ice pack on them for three hours, and May had me running laps."

"Well, I have to meet Romanoff at the gym in twenty minutes, so it could still go south" Darcy laughed and nudged Skye under the table when she saw who was walking towards them. By the time Skye had swallowed the food in her mouth, it was too late. Melinda May was sat across from her, with her best disapproving glare. Did Coulson teach a class on those stares? He was notorious for his, and it seemed that May had almost perfected it.

"Skye" May nodded.

"May" Skye gulped and reached for her water, taking a deep drink before smiling at the other woman, "How have you been?"

"Twenty extra minutes on the treadmill to burn off the extra calories" she said, earning a groan from Skye, then turned to Darcy. "You're Barton's new pet, aren't you?"

Darcy coughed. "Um, he's my SO, yeah. Darcy Lewis, hi" she held her hand out for a handshake, but May just nodded at her.

"He's a good agent, kicked up one hell of a fuss when you were almost assigned to Phillips."

"What?" Darcy asked but May was already walking away from them.

"Twenty extra minutes?" Skye mused to herself and looked down at the chocolate pudding still on her tray. "So worth it."

Darcy left the canteen soon after that and headed towards the Gym. She didn't want to be late for her first session with Romanoff.

She got there and it was blessedly empty. She'd gotten there before Natasha, but no one else was there either. She didn't know what to do while waiting for Natasha, so she took a walk around to get used to the room. There was a section full of scary looking weight machines, two rows of treadmills facing them, with rows of other machines, like the dreaded elliptical, behind them.

"Darcy?" Someone shouted from the other side of the room, and she had to peak around a stack of yoga mats to see that it was Clint who had called her.

"Clint?" She knotted her eyebrows together and made her way towards him.

"The one and only" he smirked and dropped a bag onto a bench, throwing her a bottle of water. She managed to catch it without making too much of an ass out of herself. "Nat's stuck doing a press conference with Bruce and won't be here until Wednesday."

Darcy frowned at his smile. Natasha not being there meant that Clint was her full time SO until she turned up. Great.

"So, you've basically got a free pass for two days, because I'm not as harsh as Nat when it comes to training."

* * *

 

"I thought you said I had a free pass?" Darcy gasped from the floor, holding a hand to her chest in attempt to calm her beating heart. "Dude, you killed me!"

Clint laughed from his perch next to the rowing machine Darcy had just been using. When he'd called time and told her to get a shower, she'd flopped onto the floor and laid there like a dead fish.

"Trust me, that's nowhere near as bad as what Nat will have you doing. Did you ever have to do the rope climb in high school?"

Darcy groaned and flipped him off. "Just leave me here to die. I'm content. I've lived my life, I could dissolve into the carpet right now and not complain. Thor's promised me a place in Valhalla. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm Jewish."

"Darce, you're not dying here. Come on, go get a shower, you smell" He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her up onto both feet.

"I smell? You'd never have guessed with the small amount work I've just done" she deadpanned and walked towards the showers.

She'd barely started washing her hair when the water starting running below zero degrees and she was shivering as she stepped out into a towel. She dressed quickly and walked out of the shower block to see Clint leaning against the wall, smirking at her.

"Cold?"

"Asshole" she grumbled in response and walked past him, wet hair up in a messy bun and arms wrapped around her chest in an effort to generate some heat.

He didn't follow her, for that she was thankful for, but then she found herself lost in the maze that was Unamed Block of the Academy #3, with no map because SHIELD don't issue them, and nothing on the walls to help her out.

She took a left turn and hoped for the best. What she found at the end of the hall was definitely not the best.

"You can talk to May for me, though" Skye was stood against a wall, looking at someone who was behind the wall of the next corridor.

"You know I can't do that" a man chuckled. "Coulson knows that May would never cool off on you, if she suddenly gets soft, he'll know that something's up."

"Well, you're the one who refused to let anyone know about us."

"Skye, come on, don't this now."

Darcy stayed hidden around a corner, watching Skye talk to the stranger. It was obviously meant to be a secret conversation; why else would they be talking in a barely used hallway?

Skye pushed off from the wall and walked towards the man. Was this Ward? Darcy couldn't hear what they were saying, but hushed sounds reached her ears, and then the district noises of well, sucking face.

Darcy turned and ran back the way she came, hoping to find herself in a part of the Academy that she recognised. She was fifteen minutes away from being late for a talk on Theory and Strategy, a class which she really needed to pass to get her field work placement.

Turning another corner brought her face first into a chest. Clint's chest. Great.

"Darcy?" She rubbed at the side of her face where an imprint had been left by the zip of his hoodie.

"What's SHIELD's policy on relationships?" She asked, because that was the first thought that popped into her head and she really didn't want to admit that she got lost.

"Why?" He looked at her with his squinty eyes. Darcy didn't like his squinting eyes, they made her feel under observation.

"Like, say a junior agent and their SO?" She bit her lip and looked to the ground. Ward had a lot more power than her, and Skye was Coulson's pet project. If they found out that she'd seen them together -if that even was Ward- she didn't like to think about what would happen to her.

"Darce, I'm flattered but, you know, ah, it really wouldn't-" Clint was stumbling over his words with wide eyes, a blush, and rubbed at the back of his head with one hand, the other held in a fist at his side.

"What?" Darcy gasped because surely he didn't think that she was coming on to him? Oh God, he definitely did! "Clint. No. I, um, think I saw something that I shouldn't have." The sigh of relief and the tension that left his shoulders was a little offending. _Am I really that unappealing to him?_ Not that she was interested in a work place relationship. It was a recipe for complicated. But she wasn't blind or stupid, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that Clint Barton was an amazing man and if in some parallel universe, she was tapping that? Well, she'd high five herself with a "you go girl!"

"Darcy, what happened?" He tilted her chin for her to look up at him, his eyes soft but searching as he looked at her. He'd relaxed, mostly, but he still had his first clenched and an unusual hardness to his jaw.

"I think I saw Skye and Ward" she said, and at his confused look added "together."

"Darce, Ward is sleeping with May" Clint chuckled and threw an arm around her, pulling her down a corridor. "Whoever you saw Skye with is probably just some guy she doesn't want anyone knowing about. Hey, maybe it was that Leo guy she's friends with."

"No, Fitz is totally hung up on Simmons" Darcy sighed. "And who else would be able to talk to May for her? I'm guessing it's about her training because she was complaining about May being hard on her..." she trailed off when they stepped outside.

"I don't know, but, don't get involved. If Skye wants to shack up with him then it's her choice. And to answer your original question, there's nothing against relationships between agents. A lot of people are frown upon it because to them, it's like sleeping with a teacher."

"Where are you taking me?" She asked, to change the subject because she had once upon a time wanted to sleep with Clint, and this conversation was hitting too close to home, and to find out where the hell he was leading her because the classrooms were getting smaller and smaller on the horizon and she had about ninety seconds before she was late for Theory and Strategy.

"Do you really think that I'm going to let any agent of mine take Theory and Strategy with Phillips?" There was that name again, Phillips. Wasn't he the one who May had said she'd nearly been assigned to? "When I realised that's where you were heading I chewed out Coulson and got him to agree to let Nat and I teach you." A raised eyebrow and a bright smile were all it took for Darcy to start reconsidering her plan to avoid inter SHIELD relations, but then she remembered that this was Clint. He'd made it clear that he didn't want her earlier. There was also the rather large issue of Natasha Romanoff. But again, she wasn't going to pursue Clint.

"Why though?" Surely his job was just to make sure she didn't shoot herself and make her able to run for a decent amount of time without collapsing.

"Because Phillips is an ass and you'll learn more from Natasha alone. With both us? You'll probably graduate a year early" he shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Come on, where's your excitement?" He bounced on his feet and faced her. "It's going to be great, you get to hang with Nat and me all day, you're sure to graduate with exceptional scores, and hey, did I mention hanging with me all day?"

"Oh yeah, because I haven't had enough of you today alone."

"I'm wounded" he held a hand to his heart and laughed.

"Hey, who's Phillips?"

"An ass, I told you."

"But why is he an ass and why do you have such a thing against him?" She questioned.

"I don't know, he's just not a nice guy. You don't want to know the amount of harassment complaints that have been filed against him." He was shrugging, but there was the tension in his jaw again, making it clear to Darcy that there was obviously more to the story.

Whatever, he was a spy for Christ's sake, he was entitled to secrets. Like he'd said, they'd be spending a lot of time together until she graduated. She'd get it out of him eventually.


End file.
